This perpetual arthouse favorite tells the story of a writer who drops out of the corporate world to lead a life of perfect freedom. Jason Robards plays the nonconformist Murray Burns, guardian of a 12-year-old nephew, Nick. Murray raises his nephew to embrace his free-spirited values but runs into trouble with the Child Welfare Bureau. Adapted from Herb Gardner's successful Broadway play, A THOUSAND CLOWNS anticipated the American counterculture of the late 1960s.